


Do It With Some Style

by nerdwegian



Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Back to the Future References, M/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-14
Updated: 2014-04-14
Packaged: 2018-01-19 10:07:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1465432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdwegian/pseuds/nerdwegian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint’s eyebrows climb up. “Why? It’s a <i>Back To The Future</i> triple feature, Coulson, are you seriously telling me you don’t think that’s worth going to? Because if you are, I’m not sure I can trust you anymore, sir!”</p>
<p>(Tumblr prompt: Drive-in theater.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do It With Some Style

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [chaneen](http://chaneen.livejournal.com/) for the beta.

"Please," Clint begs.

"No," Phil says, frowning, not looking up from the folder in his hands—not even slowing down as he strides through the hallways of The Hub. Clint trails after him like a puppy dog, shoulders slumped and hands reaching towards Phil in a pleading gesture.

"Please!" Clint begs again, drawing the word out.

"No," Coulson says again, firmer this time. He doesn’t expect Clint to listen, because Clint rarely does in situations like these, and he’s not disappointed when Clint bodily blocks his way, forcing him to stop.

"I’ll do all my paperwork on time for six months."

Phil huffs. “You’re supposed to do that anyway, Agent Barton, and—what the hell, that’s a completely unfair trade!”

"I know," Clint says with a smirk, "but I figured a little overkill would—"

"That’s not overkill, that’s underkill!" Phil says quickly. "I’d expect model behavior from you for at least a year."

Clint’s smirk fades and his lips thin. “Fine. A year.”

"That’s not what I meant. Still no deal."

"But you just said—" Clint argues.

"It was just an example, I didn't actually agree to do it."

Clint looks like he’s two seconds away from actually stomping his foot like a toddler. “Come on, Coulson, sir, please, please, please!”

Phil sighs and closes the folder, studying Clint’s face. “Why.”

Clint’s eyebrows climb up. “Why? It’s a _Back To The Future_ triple feature, Coulson, are you seriously telling me you don’t think that’s worth going to? Because if you are, I’m not sure I can trust you anymore, sir!”

"No, no," Phil says, "I mean, why not just take any other car? Hell, I’ll sign out one of the cover vehicles for you if you want."

"Seriously?" Clint asks. "Coulson—Lola flies! It’s thematic!”

Phil narrows his eyes and almost considers it for a moment. Then he says, “Still no, you're not borrowing Lola,” and neatly steps around Clint to continue down the hallway.

"What if you come with?" says Clint, and that makes Phil pause. Turning to face Clint again, Phil finds that Clint’s expression has gone carefully blank.

Phil’s not sure what to say for a moment, and Clint says, “I’ll even buy you dinner for the trouble, sir—Coulson.”

Phil arches an eyebrow. “Dinner… and a movie?”

Interestingly, Clint’s eyes flicker to the left and back, and he shifts his weight from one foot to another—just the tiniest bit. “If that’s what you want to call it.”

"What would you call it?" Phil asks. He’s starting to enjoy himself. "A date?"

Clint’s neutral expression breaks then, and he laughs nervously. “A date, ha ha. I don’t know, I don’t think, I mean—”

"Because it sounds like a date to me," Phil says, giving Clint one of his most winning smiles.

Clint hesitates. “Do you—would you want it to be a date?”

Phil keeps smiling, and as he turns to walk away, he says, “I’ll pick you up at seven thirty, Clint.”

Clint doesn’t respond, and Phil likes to think it’s because he’s too stunned to.

*

Later that night, Phil’s got Lola idling fifteen feet off the ground, just above the back fence to the drive-in theater. Clint’s got a bag of M&Ms in his lap, and Phil doesn’t even say anything about the danger of getting chocolate on the upholstery when Clint tosses them in the air to catch them with his mouth. On the big screen, Michael J. Fox puts his head in his hands and says, “This is heavy, Doc!” Clint snickers, watching the screen, and Phil smiles, watching Clint.

"Happy?" Phil asks.

It gets Clint’s attention, and he turns to Phil, smile softening around the edges. “Pretty happy,” Clint confirms.

It takes Phil a while, but eventually, just when the second movie is starting, he tells himself to grow a pair and just do it. He takes Clint’s hand in his own, fingers curling between Clint’s and stroking over his callouses.

Clint looks down at the touch, and his smile grows.

Onscreen, Doc is flying the DeLorean into 2015 for the first time, but Phil and Clint both miss it: They’re busy with other things.

End.

**Author's Note:**

> "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?" ~Doc Brown


End file.
